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Friday, July 2, 2010

Doc results and a rather long rant

Well..........the virdict is in. My bloodwork came back and I had a dr. appointment on Thusday. I try to eat well as best I can, and I'm highly active, but my cholesterol was high. REALLY high-182. Nearly double what it should be. (100) So, along with the diet change, I started meds today to bring that down. I'm also going to dump the cigarettes once and for all. With the high cholesterol. smoking, family history of heart disease, and being male, I have 4 out of 5 risk factors for heart disease or attack. That is some pretty scary stuff. Tomorrow we're having friends over for a dinner that was already planned and all four of them smoke. I've decided to go as usual through tomorrow night and make the big changes starting on Sunday. What better day to totally change my life than on Independance Day? I'm really looking forward to this.

Right now I'm going to touch a bit on my viewpoint of the BP oil spill. Now first of all, I am in no way going to defend BP. What happened was completely avoidable and tragic. That isn't my problem or what I want to go into at all, so don't think I don't see how bad this all is. I do.

My problem with this isn't what happened, it's WHY it happened. I don't mean it's because of money hungry oil moguls going for that extra almighty dollar. I mean the DEMAND we have for oil. I look around when I'm out and still see the gas stations full of cars and trucks. (sadly BP still remains busy here) I do see the handfull of hybrids and electrics, but mostly I see normal gas or diesel vehicles just like always. Though we all hear the stories of oil shortages and see the ever rising fuel prices, people don't slow down at all. They bitch about the price, but they still fill up on their way to wherever it is they are going. Even at $2.85 a gallon a few weeks ago, I saw people filling their ski boats and jet ski's for a weekend at the lake without a single concern. I see them fill their cars as they head to aimlessly wander through the mall or to go see a movie. Not a one of them has, or will, change their lifestyle for gas prices or the *possible* oil shortage. (and no I don't believe that either) They continue on their same old routines and just pay the price no matter what. Well.....guess what. Supply equals demand.

Even the people who drive electrics or hybrids that get eight bazillion miles to the gallon are STILL contributing to the demand for oil. How? What is the interior of that electric car made from? And what is that stuff made from? Hmmm?? OIL. Yes, I mean plastic. And not just plastic in the cars we drive, but in everything we buy. Look around the room you are in right now and see what is made of plastic. Look at the computer you are reading this with. Look through your kitchen at all of the utensils, cups, food storage containers, jugs, bottles, cartons and wrappers all made of plastic. Even the people you see and read about being so "green" are surrounded by plastic. That solar panel on the roof, that fancy overpriced rain barrel, that hose running around the house to water those eight vegetable plants in your little garden, all plastic. Again, plastic is produced from fossil fuels, and again, supply equals demand.

I am well aware of recycling. We have a recycle program with our local trash company. But consider this: Those trucks that pick it up run on fossil fuels. The machines that grind and re-use it run most likely somehow on fossil fuels. It takes fossil fuels to make whatever is packaged in these containers, more to produce the containers themselves, more to ship that product, more for you to get it and bring it home, more to run the fridge that keeps it cool for you, more for that recycle truck, then the cycle starts all over again. It's a horrible vicious circle all run on fossil fuels. Once again, supply equals demand. It's really, really scary to think and look at how we use fossil fuels, and this is only one example. Though granted, it is a big one.

Is it possible to live plastic free? In today's world, I honsetly can't see how it's possible. Sure you can quit buying bottles of pop and get an aluminum water bottle, but that's a tiny part. Even using cloth shopping bags or opting for paper doesn't make much of a difference. Nearly everything we buy in a bottle is plastic. From ketchup to vinegar, from dish detergent to shampoo, all in plastic bottles. I don't see any way of changing this, even with all of the recycle programs in place. People continue to buy, so businesses continue to produce. Supply equals demand yet again.

Now I'm not going to try telling everyone to stop buying plastic. That is nearly impossible. I just want anyone that is reading this to think just a bit about the demand for fossil fuels and realize that it's far beyond gasoline and diesel fuels. Let me clarify once more that I am in NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM defending BP and the horrible mess that they have created. My reason for this post is to get you to think, just a little bit, about WHY they were offshore drilling in the first place. I know, I know, money money, big oil blah blah blah, but that's not my point so don't go there. My point is to just hopefully have one person, just one, see the big picture of the demand of oil from a slightly different perspective.

5 comments:

Anonymous
said...

I avoid buying plastic whenever I can, esp. for cookware. I only get a little gas at a time because of finances. I don't roam around the malls like a lot fo people. In reality we have an aboundance of oil, but the govenment makes big tax dollars from high priced gas at the pump..they are not saying for Americans to conserve or to cut back. There is no real shortage at this time, but there maybe down the road.

Well I came here because I was told your blog might interest me. But all I have seen in the last two entries are you displaying a very hostile attitude towards those different from you and/or those who choose to do things you might not do. Perhaps boating is a way for people to do something fun, yet close to home? Saving the fuel of a long road trip or plane ride? I admire the choices you are making for the life you want to lead, I really do. However, not everyone can do it on the scale you are. As long as people are trying (as in having 8 or 10 plants they are attempting to grow) then more power to them. Every little bit a person can do to help oneself counts for something. We will always be a country that relies on plastics and fossil fuels. Awareness is growing on being a better steward of the land we have been given us...and hopefully the tides will turn to a more positive use of our resources.

Yea sometimes I do get a bit bitter over things and come off a little pissy. I just sometimes get tired of talking and talking and no one seeing the big picture. Most people I know don't WANT to hear the problems with our environment, or our food supply, or about making a difference. These people like the large majority CHOOSE to walk through life with blinders on. If they don't see it, it either goes away or it didn't exist in the first place. Sometimes I DO have to yell a bit at those that choose to stick their fingers in their ears and lalalalala as loud as they can. At times, being all warm, cozy, and polite just doesn't get the point across. And....when you've been the one who has had the finger pointing, jokes, and rude comments for as long as I have just for being different than "the norm", you might be a little bitter yourself. That bitterness comes out sometimes in this blog no different than it does in my life. I won't deny it's there, and I won't hide it.

I appreciate your honesty. And you are correct..most people don't care what goes on in the world as long as it doesn't affect them. I like to think that my children and their future children will be more responsible than we were/are. In my opinion, bitterness and envy are just wasted energy. Take pride in the fact that you are different. It's the "different" people who make life interesting. I have always been different and I am so thankful that I am.